Roller conveyors are commonly employed for material handling to transport products or equipment from one location to another location. The roller conveyors typically consist of tubular rollers. For certain material handling applications, the rollers are driven by a torque transmitting mechanism such as a friction belt, multi-V belt, chain, timing belt or other various types of belts, for example. The torque transmitting mechanisms typically engage with a hub of the rollers. However, the rollers with hubs can be expensive and complex to manufacture.
In particular, many conveyor manufactures are now making POLY-V® brand multi-V conveyor belt driven roller conveyors because of the distinct advantages of high torque capability, low noise, and an ability to reduce the number of drives in many applications. Despite these advantages, many of the potential applications for POLY-V® brand conveyor belt driven roller conveyors become cost prohibitive because of the current processes used to manufacture the conveyor rollers.
The typical method used by conveyor and conveyor roller manufacturers technology is to use an expensive, machined, or injection molded hub with grooves on the outer diameter corresponding to the multi-V grooves formed on the POLY-V® brand conveyor belts. The hub includes an internal bearing, typically unique in its nature because the bearing is made to fit within the hub instead of a conveyor roller tube, thereby increasing overall cost. The hub is typically formed from or reinforced with expensive materials and pressed or pressed and welded into the roller tube, resulting in an expensive roller assembly.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a sleeve for a conveyor roller configured for use with torque transmitting devices that facilitates ease of assembly and minimizes manufacturing costs and complexity of the conveyor rollers.